Uniquely Unrequited
by Carpathian Rose
Summary: John is uniquely unrequited from love. Zed is unrequited uniquely in life. Manny isn't the only angel hanging around who's tired of the unrequited feelings between the two humans going unanswered.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

This was a prompted asked for by JtellersOldLady. I am more than happy to write this and am already enjoying so. I hope you and everyone else enjoys this!

Chapter One

Manny stared at the demonologist. John Constantine wasn't a man of many wonders. He was a man made of ill gotten choices, lurid manners and morally wrong aspects. The Angel hid himself from prying eyes, the demonologist included and folded his arms.

Why exactly, was John Constantine their first choice but last resort?

Manny could take out a legion of the demonic army with one sweep of his holy light. Sometimes he wondered why they needed John.

But then he remembered the sacrifices that only John was capable of making. John was a selfish and lying bastard, but he was also a sacrificial bastard.

Looking at John, Manny shook his head in annoyance. John was a lost cause. What was the point of doing things the hard way? He was even becoming an increasingly bad habit on Zed.

Speaking of...

Manny didn't look away from the bleeding demonologiest as he spoke. "You're cheating, Auriel."

The angel in question stepped up from behind him and looked down upon the demonologiest who somehow managed to light a cigarette through bloody fingers. She was as light as Manny was dark, the complete opposite, female and male, but fighting for the same cause. "Like you with the map?" She questioned.

Manny scoffed. "The map is a guideline."

Auriel leaned against the railing, watching events take place on the first floor below them. Both angels presence went dully unnoticed, as was meant to be. If the demonologiest in question knew how often this occurred, he wouldn't be very happy. She smiled. "Zed is a guideline."

"Only because you're cheating."

"The _map_ is a cheat, Manny." Auriel murmured argumentatively.

Manny rolled his eyes. The moment he'd seen Zed, he'd seen Auriel behind the physic brunette. John Constantine wasn't the only one who came with a guardian angel. Every human had a Guardian Angel, but most remained on the side lines.

Constantine thought he knew everything there was to know. But he had no clue...

"Your human has a bad tendency to put mine in danger."

Manny looked away from John and to Auriel. "Tell me again why you put her in Constantine's path..." He reminded the other angel, daring her to argue the consequence. Auriel may be the reason for Zed's visions, but only because Zed was capable and believing of the opportunity presented.

" _ZED!"_

Auriel looked away from Manny as Constantine stumbled further into the mill and then kicked the door shut. Blood soaked the left side of his white shirt from a shoulder wound. Zed peered around the corner and her mouth dropped open, the color draining from her face when she saw the blood and surprisingly pale John.

"Oh my God, John, are you OK? What happened?!" She rushed forward and grabbed ahold of his uninjured arm and urged him onto the couch and started on the buttons of his shirt.

John plucked the cigarette from his lips and grimaced before dropping the cigarette into an ash tray. "And here I thought you didn't want to get me naked." John muttered, wincing as he shrugged out of the bloody side first.

"Shut up. Tell me you didn't go after him alone..."

"You just told me to shut up. What is it, _luv,_ talk or shut up?"

Manny sighed, watching the scene with annoyance. "John's a mess."

"They're an even bigger mess together." Auriel agreed. She had never seen two people who were so lost together. It was amazing how easily the two humans co-existed. They were perfect together, but wrong for the journey that would defeat the Rising Darkness. It was amazing how wrong the right turned out to be. No one else was more fit for the role of savior than the two below.

How...inconveniently convenient.

Manny gave a soft laugh. "That they are." His expression sobered. "But John's a fool when it comes to matters of the heart."

Auriel remained silent, staring down at the two humans. Manny preferred a more upfront approach when dealing with his mortal. She preferred to remain unseen, which was how things were meant to be. She was Zed's guiding hand. She didn't need to expose herself. She was tempted though. "I don't always control what she feels. That's all on her human side." Human emotions were too delicate to dictate.

"Like I said, John's a fool." Manny repeated.

"They do make quite a pair." Auriel murmured thoughtfully. John had a bad habit of pushing people away. Zed had a bad habit of running away. Zed wasn't letting John push her away and John wasn't letting Zed run from her problems.

A thoughtful expression crossed the angels face.

"Bloody hell woman." John garbled out when Zed poured a generous amount of brandy over the wound in his shoulder.

Manny studied Auriel. "...what are you thinking, Auriel?" He knew that look on the angels face.

"Oh, I don't know...shall we?" Auriel asked pleasantly.

Manny eyebrows snapped down. "We don't have time for games, Auriel."

Auriel laughed. "We have all the time in the world." Her lips turned down in a frown just as suddenly. "Who doesn't deserve love?"

Manny rolled his eyes again, clasping his hands together. He didn't completely disagree with her. "Let John hear you say that. 'Love is as unrealistically boring as life without smokes.'" He quoted in an oddly familiar British accent. But watching the two, even he had to agree how he didn't see how two people could be so dense when it came to the opposite sex.

But maybe John's abstinence towards Zed was his way of showing he cared. The good Lord above knew John wanted nothing more than to spend his days _fucking._ And Zed, she was a whole different story. She cared for John even in his darkest hour.

Quiet frankly, Manny was tired of the go-around between John and Zed. The jealously, the sly looks and the fear of losing the other was getting old.

He smiled.

Auriel mimicked his smile and both Angels suddenly appeared before the two mortals.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Bloody hell." John muttered, his head falling back against the couch as Zed tried to kill him. Wasn't it enough that someone else had tried to do so? Did she really want to off him that bad? "Give me that." He said through clenched teeth and snatched the bottle of brandy away from her nimble fingertips and took a heavy swig.

Zed ignored the fumbling and idiotic man reclining on the couch as she pressed a folded cloth over his shoulder. She pressed down hard.

John stiffened and cursed. "You did that on purpose." He accused and would have sat up, but her opposite hand pressed against his chest, keeping him flat against the upright side of the couch.

Whether she had or not, Zed wasn't going to admit. Her lips thinned into a line as she stopped the flow of blood to a thin trickle. Why didn't he listen to her? Why didn't he listen to Chas? What was so hard about _waiting?_

She looked at the bloody button down shirt on the floor. "Is all of that yours...?" She had to ask. In their latest case, they'd had to deal with a mixture of both demons and humans. The prior meeting hadn't gone well. Why exactly had John gone back?

"Probably not. That's a lot of blood." He'd dealt his own blows with consequences plus an exorcism on the side. All's well that ended well.

" _Por que me molesto si vas a que te maten de todos modos?"_ Zed muttered to herself rapidly, her expression narrowing down into annoyance.

"English, luv?" John acquired. He didn't like it when she went all _chica_ on him. It was good on a case if they needed a distraction, but she could be cursing him for all he knew. From her expression, she probably was.

Zed ignored him and pressed a white bandage over the smooth line of torn flesh. He could have went to a hospital, which was probably better than what they were doing but she knew John. He didn't like hospitals anymore than she did. It had mostly to do with the fact that John Constantine was a wanted man. He was good at going around unnoticed but there was always that one individual who seemed to pick him out.

He really had the worst luck and his shoulder was proof of that.

"You're an idiot." She was tempted to hit him. The only reason she didn't was the gauze she'd just taped to his front.

John sat up and leaned forward, his hands hanging between his knees as he rolled his shoulders stiffly but carefully. _Barmy_ but his shoulder hurt like a bitch. "I'm pretty sure that's not what you said."

" _Eres un idiota."_

He frowned. "And I know you didn't say that before." For Zed's sake, and probably his, he needed to take up Spanish classes. He stood up gingerly and picked up the ruined shirt, balling it in his fist. He tossed it in a garbage bin across the room. "Where's my bloody cigarettes?"

The Mill was _clean._ John noticed it right away. His relics and spell books were unsurprisingly untouched, but the floors had been swept and mopped. The counters were empty of unnecessary clutter and the books he'd left haphazardly on the edge of the table were no where to be seen. He looked at the map and it was neatly spread out and even.

The pictures on the walls were straightened and the bookcases had been dusted.

He paused mid-step and turned around. "Did you have a vision?"

Zed took one of the seats surrounding the map and sat down, calmly placing her hands in her lap. "Yes." She didn't say anything more.

That explained the Mill House. It unnerved him that she could do that to the Mill. She'd even wiped down the mirror over the Mantle. He liked the dust and clutter. It was his domain and place of peace. Zed did that when she had a vision sometimes. She cleaned. She sanitized. Especially when she was alone. If she saw something that upset her, she would turn the Mill House upside to clean it properly.

"And?" John prompted.

Zed wasn't sure how to answer him. "Go look at the map." She'd forgotten about the map when he'd come in all injured and bloody. She'd had a vision, but what she'd seen hadn't made sense. And then she'd seen the map, which had made even less sense. Chas was visiting his daughter and she couldn't reach him. John never answered his phone.

John frowned but turned and looked at the map. His eyebrows snapped down and he leaned down, bracing his hands on either side of the map. "There is no bloody way." He muttered suddenly, his eyes darting over and around each vicinity of the map.

Zed just sat there primly, her hands clasped in her lap. She knew what he saw and her expression had been the same as his. She didn't believe it either. The map didn't work like that. But the proof was in the tiny drops of ruby blood.

He turned suddenly and closed the distance, latching onto her wrist. "John? What are you doing?" Zed asked when he pulled her back over to the map. Keeping a hold of her wrist, he pressed her hand against the map and over the red dots, pressing his hand over hers so that her hand was flat.

"John!" Zed gasped and jerked her hand back, but John wouldn't release her. What was he doing! She could feel the tiny damp spots of blood against her palm and fingertips and her stomach somersaulted. "Let me go, John!"

"Do you see anything?" John muttered in disbelief. There was no fucking way.

"What?" Zed gasped in confusion, struggling to move her hand away from him. "No. Let me go. Now." Finally, she yanked her hand out from beneath his and look at the palm of her hand in disgust. Blood stained her tanned skin in small pin pricks. She looked around for something to wipe her palm on and then yanked a paper towel off the wrack. "What the hell was that for? Are you insane?"

John turned back to the map. The dots were smeared, but they were still there. He ran a hand through his tussled blonde hair and muttered something beneath his breath.

Yes, he was insane. He'd even been to and admitted himself into an insane asylum. He ignored the question and continued. "This isn't..." He lifted his head and look at her over the table. "What did you see before?"

Zed bit her lip. "Nothing."

"Now's not the time, Zed. What did you see?" Because what he was seeing on the map was out of proportion and it confused and sickened him at the same time.

Zed stood up and moved to the table, looking down at the map again before looking up at him and drawing his attention across the table. "No, John. What I saw _was_ nothing." She didn't know how to explain what she'd seen. She hadn't seen anyone. The streets had been...empty. What she'd seen had been normal. There was no demon. There was no man or woman that they needed to find. There was just...

No one.

No one but her and John on an empty street.

It was an everyday part of life. Minus the sound and bustle of cars, of laughter and people talking.

"What you saw wasn't just 'nothing'. You're connected to the map, luv. And this is something."

Zed grasped her own hands nervously and followed his gaze back to the map. She understood his first exclamation when he'd seen the map. Hers had been the same. She stared at the tiny red dots on the map. There wasn't just one this time. They were scattered over the entire map, some bigger than others.

She'd never witnessed anything like it before and from John's reaction, he hadn't either.

" _What_ did you see, Zed?" John asked again, stressing over the first word.

He didn't like what he was seeing on the map. Sure, he got that demons were terrorizing poor, consumable souls over the entire world. That wasn't entirely his problem. He could only take on so much. But how the hell could so much be going on at one time? His heavenly helper sure hadn't stopped by to let him know that anything was going on.

Little help he was, anyway.

"We were in the middle of the street. In town, I think. And it was just...I didn't see anyone else. It was quiet." She grew quiet. "You brought me flowers."

"What?"

"I'm telling you what I saw, John."

"I brought you flowers..." John repeated. What sense did that make, cause it sure as bloody hell made none to him. What demonic activity or paranormal activity in general involved him giving her flowers? Her visions weren't always invalid. Sometimes they were just warnings, or something to steer them in the right direction. "Back to the first part, luv."

"It may have been in town, but we were in the street. I don't remember seeing anyone else. There was a green traffic light but there were no cars." None that were driving. She ran an agitated hand through her twisted curls. "It didn't look like anything...bad."

"That may be the case, but this—" He said, tapping a finger against the map. "—is bad. I really hope the man upstairs doesn't think I can take on this many _friends."_

She knew what the map meant. Her expression mirrored his. When the map presented them with a fresh drop of blood, they investigated the area. The map may as well have been drenched in blood. How were they supposed to deal with that? Was the entire world affected? What was it affected by? She was barely into John's dark side of the world and this was...completely out of her understanding.

She lifted her head but John wasn't looking at her. He was looking over her shoulder.

"Ah, of course you'd show up now, mate." John said, his eyes moving over to something else behind her and Zed turned around.

Zed sucked in a sharp breath. Manny. But she wasn't staring at Manny. She was staring at the feminine angel beside him. Manny was the only angel she'd ever seen. Her reaction to the second angel was the same as her first reaction to seeing Manny for the first time.

Awe.

"John," Zed whispered. "...is she...real?"

John snorted. "Oh, she's real, luv. Unfortunately."

"How nice to see you again, John. I will never get over how pleasant you are." Auriel purred out and John arched an eyebrow.

Where Manny looked human to her, except for those wings he tended to keep hidden, the female looked like what an angel should look like. Her hair was long, a shade lighter than Zed's. Her white gown flowed to the floor, revealing a bare foot peaking out from beneath. Zed swore she could feel the warmth and love radiating from her.

"And you've brought company." John said and his eyes moved up and down once before doing a double take.

"She's a heavenly host, John." Manny snapped out.

John smiled. "Not my type, mate."

"Ah, but she is." Auriel said with a brilliant smile.

"What?" John responded.

Auriel looked at Manny. "Have you ever seen anyone make him smile like her?"

"The fear of losing someone is a powerful thing." Manny said and looked at John.

Where Manny held a more serious tone, Auriel was light and airy.

John's arms slowly unfolded. "What are you talking about?"

"He makes her happy." Auriel said and clasped her hands together in front of her chest. "Oh, I know...!"

"Most of the time." Manny looked at Auriel. "But love's blind to itself."

"Do you remember Jim Corrigan?" Auriel looked thoughtful, as if she were reliving the memory herself.

"Excuse me?" John demanded, suddenly confused as he watched the two angels. Zed looked suddenly uncomfortably confused at the mention of the detective.

Manny almost laughed because while Auriel didn't mention the exact memorable moment of the detective, he knew which one she was speaking of.

" _You're jealous, John."_

John could deny it all he wanted, but the only reason he didn't like the detective was because of his interests in Zed. He'd witnessed the kiss between Zed and Jim and he'd walked out. John was jealous. Even with the detective out of the picture for the most part, that jealously was still there.

"What in the bloody devil is wrong with you two?" John demanded suddenly, halting the angels tirade. He turned around and picked up the map and held it between both hands. "Care to explain?"

Manny looked down at the map. "Hmm...I didn't think about that." He murmured. He hadn't thought of the repercussions of the map, but the map was right in its essence. There was a reason why it had gone red with blood, though it wasn't something John needed to handle.

Auriel waved her hand at the map and shook her head. "I will let you deal with that one, Manny. I had nothing to do with that."

Manny sighed. "It's the same thing, Auriel."

John stared at the conversating angels, his eyes narrowing. They'd lost him a while back—they were ignoring him. What the hell? "Why in the bloody hell is the map nearly dripping with bloody, you sod?" That got the angels attention.

Manny sighed again and snapped his fingers, the map appearing back on the table. "Don't worry about that, John." What he and Auriel were doing wasn't completely wrong. Angels often guided their humans to their better half. The two humans before them, they were each others better half.

Zed's mouth dropped open when the map suddenly disappeared.

"Pay attention, John. Not everyone gets this chance, much less the chance handed to them."

Auriel clapped her hands again, nearly floating on her toes. "Oh, but I do love your approach, Manny. Splendid." She beamed at John and Zed. "Beautiful, absolutely beautiful together." She pointed a finger in John's direction. "I can't condone sex before marriage. Are we clear?"

Her expression sobered then, looking back and forth between the two. "Love is a fickle thing. You both have suffered for it. But you're no longer alone. You don't have to go through life alone. I won't stand for it."

John opened his mouth before snapping it shut again.

Manny looked at Auriel. Auriel looked at Manny. They were both sure of one thing. If anyone deserved love, it was the two humans in front of them. They were just too blind to see what was in front of them. They were distracted by everything around them. Life, death, fear.

Auriel reached out and placed her hand over the vicinity of Zed's heart and then lifted her other hand, pressing her thumb against Zed's forehead. "Go get him, girl." She whispered and pushed.

Manny had never seen John look so flustered. For once, the demonologist was silent. He didn't understand a damn thing that was going on. He wished he could see John in this position more often. He pressed his hand over John's heart and a thumb in the center of his forehead. "Let no man tear asunder, John..." He said and pushed.

The angels smiled as both John and Zed hit the floor unconscious. The lights flickered out, leaving the unconscious pair alone in the darkness.

-Your reviews mean the world to me-


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

If there was one thing John didn't like, it was waking up in a place he didn't recognize. He didn't mind waking up in random bedrooms, as long as those random bedrooms were occupied by the opposite sex.

He didn't remember going to sleep on the floor. When he opened his eyes, he expected to see the hard floor of the Mill House. What he saw wasn't exactly that. In fact, he didn't see anything. Nothing but _black._

Sometimes he hated angels and sometimes he _really_ hated Manny. He didn't know much about the female angel, but John was suddenly one angry Brit. He couldn't see. He swept a hand in front of his face blindly, but he couldn't even see the paleness of his hand in the dark. He cursed and rose to his knees blindly.

"Dueces." John reached out again, one hand on the floor and the other in the air in front of him. "When I get my hands on you, Manny..." He was going to tear him "asunder". _Let no man tear asunder..._

Angel his ass.

John almost snorted. He didn't have time for biblical phrases, much less the more formal ones.

His hand swept forward along the floor, searching for something, anything in the darkness and he brushed up against something soft and _hair like._ That was the only description that came to mind. He frowned—what the hell was going on—and shifted his hand downward. His hand sloped upward before settled over something soft and warm.

His hand gave an experimental squeeze.

He paused. That was oddly familiar...

He squeezed again.

His breath wheezed out when something hit him in the throat over his jugular and he reeled back. He fell back and then that same something hit his chest and pushed him back the rest of the way on his back. Something pressed against the center of his chest while another pressed against his neck, threatening to cut of his airway.

"Bloody hell." John cursed, his words garbled from the pressure at his throat. Another soft but airy something brushed his nose. His nose twitched.

He recognized that smell and froze. "Zed?"

"Constantine?"

He couldn't see her, but that was _her_ voice. He realized suddenly that it was her weight keeping him pinned down. One of her knees was pressed against his collarbone while one of her forearms was pressed against his jugular, keeping him efficiently pinned.

He'd groped her breast.

The pressure at his chest disappeared suddenly and John sat up gingerly.

Zed reached out instinctively and her searching hands found one of his shoulders. She latched onto it with both hands, her hands sliding down until she was grabbing his wrist. "John, what's—"

"Hell if I know, luv." John said, cutting her off. He didn't brush her hold off. She couldn't see. Her reaction was instinct. "Alright, games over, Manny." John said. He wasn't in the least bit amused.

Zed blinked her eyes, but the heavy darkness didn't dim. She could feel John standing and followed his movement. She held onto him with one hand while reaching out with the other. "Dammit." She whispered when she hit her knee.

John turned and could just barely make out her curls in the darkness. "What the bloody hell is this?" He muttered. "Be careful." He reached out in the direction of her arm and was thankful when he found her elbow. He turned and took a step forward and a hard surface connected with his shins.

" _Fuck_." John hissed and sank to one knee, nearly pulling Zed down with him. He lifted his head, peering up into the darkness. "Enough's enough, you wing carrying bastard." He braced his hands against the smooth surface and pushed himself to his feet. "Go to your right."

Zed immediately followed his direction. There were times when she wouldn't have trusted Constantine with her life. This wasn't one of those times. She was just as lost as Constantine. Constantine, the man who normally had everything figured out. Or at least he pretended.

"I can't see, John." Zed whispered. She wasn't blind, of that she was sure. They were just in a dark...somewhere. She walked forward blindly, her hands her guideline until she came up against a ridged surface along the wall.

Something cool pressed against her palm and she could feel the imprints of dust and grime against her fingertips. And cool, molded metal.

She slammed backward from the small touch, her body colliding with John's. Something hit the floor with a hollow sound and rolled to a stop.

John stumbled back with an 'umph', catching Zed beneath the arms. He steadily moved her to the side and moved in front of her, readying himself for another attack.

An attack from what?

Shit, he was bracing himself for something that he couldn't even see.

"John." Zed hissed out, reaching out for him in the darkness again. He wasn't wearing a shirt so she couldn't hold onto that. She curled her fingers into the back of his belt and held on tight.

John waited, but nothing came. A drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"Ugh, of course." John muttered to himself and dug into his right pocket suddenly. He withdrew his hand a dim light flared to flame at the top of the lighter.

Zed lifted her free hand to shade her eyes from the sudden light. It cast shadows over the planes of John's back. But she could see him now.

John lifted his hand a little higher and surveyed their surroundings...his eyes lowered, moving over the floor. He squatted down suddenly, taking Zed with him. "Well, no wonder." John said to himself, for his own benefit.

Zed released John from her hold and crawled on her knees beside him. She frowned. "John, is that..."

"The Helmet of Fate?" John finished for her. "Yea, luv, it is." He lifted his head and stood, lifting the lighter as he did so. He couldn't see very far but what he did see was...the Mill House.

They were still inside the Mill House.

No wonder Zed had slammed back against him. She'd been reaching out in the darkness for something to guide her way and the Helmet of Fate had been the first thing she'd come across in the darkness. He'd once warned Liv not to touch it—it packed one hell of a punch.

"How are we still in the Mill House?"

John stated the obvious. "We never left it."

"Where's Manny?"

"That's a good question." And Manny's little angel friend. The fact that he and Zed had both woken up on the floor and in the dark, with no memory of falling asleep, wasn't good in John's book. Especially when it came to his angelic retriever.

He remembered Manny pressing his thumb against his forehead...and then he'd woken up in the dark.

Not good, not good at all.

"Bloody hell." John cursed when he released the lighter and the darkness consumed them again. He immediately pressed the switch again and then turned to the right and flipped one of the light switches. The room was instantly flooded with light.

Zed blinked her eyes against the startling contrast from dark to light. What had just happened? It was a question that deemed an answer.

The map was on the far table again. She distinctively remembered Manny making it disappear. She left John and picked up the map, staring at the ruby red drops that covered the surface. How could each city be covered, every small town? She looked up at John's back, her eyes moving over the bandage. "John." She said, motioning towards the map again.

"Is it still marked?"

Zed nodded. Even though John had known Manny longer than she had, she'd always been more attuned to the angel. Manny never did anything without a reason. But what was the point of this? There was absolutely no feasible reason for …

" _Go get him, girl." Auriel said, pressing one hand against Zed's heart while pressing her thumb against the center of her forehead._

She remembered Manny doing the same thing to John. But she didn't remember anything after that. She only remembered...waking up.

Was Manny testing them?

The thought unnerved her. Manny had used her before to be his vessel but she never did remember what had happened in between the time he took over her body and during. She bit her bottom lip and looked down at the map again.

Her eyes immediately zoned in on her left hand. The light from above gleamed dully on the pale silver gold lining surrounding her second to last finger. She lifted her hand, forgetting about the map entirely. She stared at the ring. It wasn't hers. She didn't own any kind of ring, much less a diamond ring. She couldn't recall ever seeing a diamond so...pure and light.

She closed the fingers of her opposite hand around the ring and tugged.

She lifted her head. "John?"

Manny was up to something and John was looking for any sign that the angelic bastard may have left them. Or maybe he was just toying with him, knowing how he hated to be led along. "Yea?"

The ring wouldn't come off. Zed tugged again. Her finger wasn't swollen. The ring wouldn't even slide forward an inch. It was a perfect fit, but it wasn't moving. At all. It wouldn't come off. The ring hadn't been there before and remembering what Manny and Auriel had done—what had they done? None of this made sense to her.

She twisted the ring around on her finger, or tried to, but it remained in the same position, staring up at her through the white gold and unique diamond. She bit her lip and looked up and then closed the distance between them. John was ignoring her.

She reached out and grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to turn around.

Irate, John turned to face her. Zed always had had a soft spot for Manny. Sometimes he wondered if the two conspired against him. The only reason he was so bothered when before he wouldn't have been, was the fact that Manny had knocked him out—just without the pain part. " _What?"_ He nearly snapped out, but managed to keep his voice calm, though he couldn't hide his irritation.

"Look, John." Zed said, holding her hand palm down in front of him so he could see the diamond ring.

"That's nice, luv." John said, the sarcasm in his voice clear. "But—" he back tracked and curled his hand around her wrist from beneath and lifted her hand higher. Zed didn't own any ring of that magnitude.

Zed snatched her hand back and then took his left hand in hers, snatching it forward when she caught a glimpse of...

John stared at the gold lined silver. That hadn't been there before. It sure as hell hadn't been there before. No ring had _ever_ graced that finger and it never was. His lips thinned and he lifted his hand in front of his face, turning it over and then staring at the back of his hand. There were engraved words on the front that circled the entire ring.

The words _Let no man tear asunder_ were engraved in an elegant scrawl.

He jerked at the ring instinctively and muttered another curse beneath his breath when it didn't give beneath his pull. "Bloody thing won't come off."

Zed looked uncomfortable.

His expression changed when a thought crossed his mind. His eyes skipped from his ring to hers and then back again. No...

What in the bloody hell...

He lifted his head skyward. "Real funny, you sod." John didn't laugh. He sounded miffed. Nothing about this was amusing to him. Manny had a sadistic sense of humor, did he? John had him beat twenty times over. He opened his mouth but his eyes landed on a foreign piece of parchment on the table in front of the couch. He picked it up absent mindedly, his eyes moving over the words...

 _Marriage Certificate – Bonds of Matrimony_

 _This certifies that John Constantine & Mary Martin were joined together on the 8_ _th_ _day of September..._

John tensed, a muscle in his jaw ticking.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

John leaned back in the booth, idly tapping his fingers against the tabletop. The coffee that had by now grown cold wasn't what he needed. He probably could have stomached the caffeinated brew doctored with alcohol, but he didn't have any of the stuff on him. The second thing he needed was to finish the cases that he'd thrown aside, and get down to the money that was owed him.

For the past nine days, he'd been more preoccupied with the wedding band mocking him from his finger. He was torn between wanting the damn thing off and making Manny's life hell. Couldn't he do both? If he could get the angels attention.

Threatening the angel hadn't done it. Summoning sure as hell hadn't and "asking" as Zed had suggested hadn't fared much better.

Nine days. Nine fucking days since he'd woken up with the band of his life. For the millionth time x10, John tugged at the offended gold.

His attention was diverted when the waitress finally stopped. John prepared himself for the shy smile and the sly provocative offer but her eyes dipped down and her smile vanished, moving back to professional. She looked from him to Zed and back.

" _Bollocks."_ John muttered.

It was kind of hard to fool around once, much less twice when the ring on his finger drew unwanted attention. The attention he craved from the opposite sex was dulled by the slight weight on his finger.

"Never thought I'd see the day when John Constantine was blew off." Zed said, watching the scene in silent. She knew exactly what had gone wrong and even though she was as dumb-founded as Constantine, she found it amusing. John didn't.

John contemplated opening the pack of cigarettes then and there. "Doesn't happen often enough, luv." The words were a double standard, one he didn't bother to hide.

Zed rolled her eyes. The rings held no significance for them. She held her hands beneath the table, her thumb moving over the ring nervously. While it was nothing but a confusing bitterness to them, it meant something different to the outside world.

"Anything yet?"

She shook her head. She hadn't had a vision since. Though, she had the reoccurring thought of John bringing her flowers, but only because that was out of his character. Did Manny _want_ them to play the happily married couple? Why? She didn't believe in marriage anymore than she believed in the absence of her visions. Marriage had never been in her line of vision.

"Blasted thing." John muttered and looked skyward. He slid out of the booth and Zed followed him. He was in a hurry. Probably because he'd been shot down point blank by the waitress. John Constantine wasn't used to that.

They stepped out onto the sidewalk and John stuffed his hands in his pants pockets, muttering beneath his breath the entire time. It didn't matter what he did, how he did it or how many times. He didn't have anymore of an answer now than he did then.

Zed lifted her head when John suddenly stopped.

A large vendor cart loaded with flowers sat on one end of the curb.

 _You gave me flowers, John._

The vendor smiled when he saw what he perceived as a couple. John's mouth dropped open. Where the devil was the angel? John scrutinized the vendor but as hard as he stared, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. This wasn't just perfect timing, it was suspicious.

Waking up alone together, the rings, the flowers, the rings...the rings...John's lips thinned into a line. Was Manny trying to play the devoted match maker?

John looked at Zed.

He'd known her for a short while now. He cared about her. He'd known fear before and that fear included losing her to the things that go bump in the night. He just didn't care about her _that_ much.

He must have been standing there too long, because the vendor placed a wild variety in his hands and John stared down at the small bouquet.

Flowers.

They looked completely out of place in his hands. He didn't do flowers. He wasn't that type of bloke. He looked foolish.

"Bloody hell." John said and thrust the bouquet into Zed's unsuspecting hands.

The scene played out how she'd envisioned and Zed stared awkwardly at the flowers. Like John, she didn't know how to perceive the small gift. It was twice as awkward because they'd come from John.

"We're a match made in hell." John said to the vendor and lifted his hand, showing off the gold circling his finger.

"John?"

Zed turned her head at the familiar male tone and her stomach dropped while her heart gave that familiar beat. Jim Corrigan stood there, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets. He was staring at John's hand and then the flowers in her hand.

John swore his mood darkened even more.


	5. Chapter 5

(Anyone else watch the premiere of Constantine on Arrow? I haven't watched all of it but I plan to when I have the time. I can't say I like Arrow but I will watch the one episode just to see Constantine. I'm so happy they are trying to give him a chance!)

Chapter Five

He never had liked Corrigan. His luck in acquaintances wasn't fairing any better. John didn't like Jimmy boy—at all. Seeing him now re-enforced that thought. He was a good ally but his interest in Zed was a mute point. Nothing good was going to come of it.

Corrigan was walking a fine line with death and he wasn't even aware of it and Zed refused to acknowledge it.

John couldn't remember a time when he'd had more bad luck. No, he corrected himself. He could remember quiet a few times, actually. His stream of bad luck was steadily rising.

Jim was watching them speculatively, the caution and confusion apparent in his eyes. He looked... _disappointed._

Good, John thought. Better to let the sod down now.

"Are we done yet?" John said irritated, spreading his arms wide as he looked towards the sky. He didn't care about the stares from people as they passed. He'd been in the loony bin, for Christs' sake.

Corrigan was coming to a conclusion that John had made clear wasn't a conclusion on many occasions and Zed had echoed that statement. There was nothing between them. Zed was nothing more than a vocal point in his life. But he didn't like Corrigans panned out interests in Zed.

 _He was jealous._

Not Jim, but _he_ was jealous.

John looked away from the precious heavens and towards the detective. He didn't know where the thought came from. He'd never been jealous of a woman in his life. Jealously came from the women when they found him in bed with another.

He wasn't jealous. Zed was here. With him. She'd made that choice to stay with him.

He needed a light.

John rubbed the back of his neck, his expression never changing. "You have an uncanny knack for showing up when you're not wanted, mate."

"John." Zed scolded softly. She'd been expecting an insult from John but she was still surprised when it came none the less. Jim was an extension in their world. He was good at finding odds and ends. He was also good at letting things go.

He'd let her go once. He'd erased every single file on her...

John never hesitated to insult him. It was a test to see who was more of a man, right?

Corrigan shrugged the insult off. "Nice to see you again, John." He nodded in Zed's direction, his expression turning awkward when he took in the near identical rings. "...congratulations are in order..." He said. He didn't sound very congratulative.

"Not bloody likely." John answered just as quick as Corrigan had given the statement. He didn't want any sort of _relations_ on anything unless they involved vodka and a big breasted lady love...

He looked at Zed. According to _Law_ , he had one whenever he bloody wanted it.

"John?"

John jolted out of his suddenly leery thoughts at Zed's inquiry. He nearly snickered. That wasn't a place he wanted to go. Knowing Zed, that wasn't a place _she_ wanted him to go. She'd probably bruise his Johnny boy if he even tried...

"Bloody hell." John muttered and ran a hand through his already tussled blonde hair.

"We're not..." Zed said, reading the expression on Jim's face. She shook her head, the light from a street lamp overhead catching on the rings and drawing unwanted attention. The action spoke completely against what she'd said.

Jim didn't look convinced. They were all a little romantically confused. He had no reason to judge, no basis for it, much less any reason to judge the couple in front of him.

Jim was silent and Zed cleared her throat. "We're not married."

Jim was silent while John was pouting, muttering beneath his breath. She didn't know what he was going on about, but she wasn't going to argue it over with him. They had enough to worry about without arguing over trival things. She didn't want Jim believe something that wasn't true.

She liked him. He was and gentle. He'd proven to be a friend in a world where she had few. But he also saw something in her that she didn't see him in. That something had the power to make things difficult between them and it wasn't fair to let him continue to think along that route.

" _I saw you die, Jim." Zed said softly, the sorrow in her eyes clear. She didn't want him to die. She'd seen enough death. John had said she couldn't stop it, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try. Jim deserved to know._

 _For once, Jim surprised her by leaning forward and kissing her. She closed her eyes and reveled in the small, innocent kiss. There was nothing in it, nothing but a kiss that should have meant something, but meant less. She stared at Jim, pressing her fingers against her lips. She liked Jim, she really did. But she..._

 _Her fingers still against her lips, her eyes met John's across the room before he turned away._

"The angels are in the mood for games." John said, lighting a cigarette.

"Angels..." Jim repeated.

John nodded, the cigarette dangling from his lips. The detective had yet to experience one of the heavenly host and he envied him that. Angels were a bloody pox on the earth. "Our favorite angel showed up with a friend. Decided to fit us with _these_." He explained as best he could, flashing the ring on his hand.

It wasn't just Corrigan. He didn't want _anyone_ thinking he was blissfully wedded. That could ruin a mans reputation. He liked Zed, he really did, John admitted. He just didn't see himself liking her enough to ask her those four words every chit wanted to hear.

Did she want to hear those words? In her psychotic world, did she have a secret fantasy of finding Prince Charming and having him kneel as he asked, "Will you marry me?"

He inhaled and then plucked the cigarette from his lips, ash flying in the opposite direction. Zed had a lot of fantasy's that she put to paper and not all of them were pleasant. But she was just like every other girl who harbored to see a man on his knee, proposing his love for all the world to see.

He'd done it for her. He'd always been one for attention but while that wasn't the kind of attention he wanted, he'd done it for Zed. He'd gotten down on one knee with that ring in an oddly colored box as he asked those four words.

" _Will you marry me, love?"_

The memory was there in his mind. He'd asked her in front of the Mill. He remembered sinking to one knee, her hand in his as he withdrew the odd box.

" _Will you marry me, love?"_

He remembered waiting in silence as she stared at him.

" _Will you marry me, love?"_

And then she'd said yes. He didn't remember _doing_ any of those things, but they were there. In his mind.

"Fuck." The word exploded from his lips.


End file.
